This track was originally built by John D. Spreckles. He was a sugar entrepreneur in San Diego, California, 1853 - 1926. The engineering people and many others said it could not be built, and it was nick- named , "The Impossible Railroad." Mainly because of the steep rough terrain going down into the desert of Imperial Valley. It was later named The San Diego-Arizona Eastern Railroad. There is a custom-built steam engine made for this railroad. It used vertical pistons for more power to get up the steep grades from the desert. I got a chance to see this steam locomotive many years ago when it was being stored and restored for the museum. They had it at NAS Miramar for some reason. My dad was in the Navy, and one of his comrades took us on a personal tour of it, and a couple of passenger cars were there. That wooden trestle is the world's biggest curved wooden trestle! To bring supplies into this area even with todays technologies would be amazing. They did this in 1920's. Solid rocks and deadly heat. The collapsed tunnels to the north of the trestle are the original train route until a major California earthquake happened around 1933. This prompted the construction of the wooden trestle. Mr. Spreckles had a mansion in Coronado, California there are many landmarks in San Diego County named after him. Organ pavilion and an amphitheater. I've been a San Diego County resident since 67 currently live near Campo, where the museum is located and very close to this trestle in the video. I actually live closer to the famous tunnel where the train goes into Tecare, Mexico, for a short distance and back into the United States.
What an amazing adventure that Merlin and Brad has taken us on with this video! Beautiful country and historic railroad tracks. Thanks for taking us along Merlin!
That's the nicest rail cart so far. Much more stylish than a 4x8 hunk a ply, two lawn chairs and a Harbor Freight 4 stroke. Those larger wheels cut right through the shallow sand.
Found this rail track by accident,was hiking here in the early 80,s..ran into the big steel gate and walked over the hill it block off,to get to the other side.amazed that it went on forever,so I just kept going,,something I'll never forget !
The oil box is a flange oiler. It helped reduce drag of the wheel flanges on the curves. The timber strucures are speeder "set outs". Track crews had to stay out of the ways of trains. The speeders were light enough to pick up one end, rotate 90 degrees, and roll on the timbers at track side. Looks like fun.
Was surprised the ‘speeders’ didn’t know about the motor car set-offs. Also surprised you didn’t back down to one to help you turn the “T Model” around. 😊
Those weird 'metal looking' spikes were called 'silver dollars' back when I pounded them into Timbers while on the bridge gang in the '80s on Conrail.. they're actually very large screws , a foot long that rotate in as you hit it with a 10 lb Sledge... Pre drilled with a slightly smaller hole
For anyone curious the water tower was Dos Cabezas Station. Steve from sidetrack adventures did a video on the history of it about a month ago it was very interesting and cool to see it in Merlin’s video
You are right. It calls oil lubricator. It pushes the oil to lubricate outside wheels before heavy curve. We still use it in Ukraine. Sometime oil lubricators installed constantly on locomotives which work on mountains. Also we use special locomotive which calls Lubricator. That locomotive runs before the train to lubricate the rails and make train ride more easily. Sorry for my english)) I still learn it🙂 Thank you fir the video👍
When I visited, over a weekend in the 70's, us Scouts discovered that 17 of the support foundations were washed out, and/ or the vertical timbers were just dangling in thin air. We walked the catwalks, collected honey from a hive, played grabass. Fun times😊
This is the coolest video I have seen in a long time. Thanks Merlin. I have worked on the railways for many years as a Traincontrol officer. Steam, Diesel and Electric. The iron ore trains weighs up to 7500 tons in freight. Cheers Cape Town 🇿🇦🇺🇲
Love my Sunday mornings with MOSG. What an adventure in Merlins 1917 model T turned into a railcar. Another creation from Dr Frankenstein great history class in a history car. The best history class entertainment . Brad enjoyed the ride
Its a shame that whole ride back was in the dark. Very cool trip. Thanks for doing it and takeing us along. I have never done anything as cool as that.
Next upgrade could maybe be a 'cow catcher'/ debris blade on the front to deflect limbs, heaps of sand, you know, debris. It's a constant problem as these ARE abandoned tracks after all. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Love you guys.
This was amazing! Thank you for sharing! That bridge is historic! Seeing that rock on the tracks made me think that a roadrunner and a Wiley Coyote were once in that very spot.
What a beautiful landscape and epic bucket List trip. Thanks Merlin! Next time, maybe put the boards under the model t longways with a bottle jack under the center of the T and spin it on the rails. ;)
That's the way we do it on the W.W.& F. Ry... Our model T rail car has a balance point. We have a board notched for the rails, (2', not 4' 8 1/2"), the jack goes in the middle, and the whole car comes up off the rails, and two people swing it around!
The bits that go off at a 90 Deg angle with wood in between the rails are to enable maintenance vehicles to put their turntable down, lift the vehicle up, spin it 90 degrees onto temporary rails and drive off out of the way for a train to pass. To save them having to go all the way back to a station/loop.
So for your next adventire, you need a small H frame with a pivot in the center so you can jack the Model T up and spin it in place. Great history! Beautiful trestle! Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦
Thanks, fellas, the biggest smiles for miles over here In the UK.. We don't have desserts here, so that's what made the video amazing to watch. thanks. Ian.
Merlin, I must thank you and Brad from the bottom of my heart. I've heard and read about this abandoned railroad and always wanted to figure out a way to go see it for myself. I'm 81 now and that will not happen. But, with your kindness and ingenuity, you have provided me a way to fulfill my dream. Thank you so much. If not for folks like you, the rest of us would never have the opportunity to see these fantastic views. Please, don't ever stop. P.S. How fortuitous is was for you two to run into 2 other adventurers. If not for them, you guys might STILL be out there.
Well I would have never experienced that trip without you Merlin. Felt like I was there with you guys with a windshield front row view. Loved this experience! Thank you for taking us along. ❤
Hello my friends Merlin and Brad,heck of a spot to have some lunch.Yup beat the heat,looks like a hang out spot for the big hairy fella old squatch himself.
The track oilers were installed to reduce friction and wear on the rails. It was also used to reduce the effects of corrosion. Cool video, thanks for the upload.
Omg my wife Kathy and l loved it so much thanks so much. My wife and I are the same time thought the fast forward parts would have been great in black & white
Awesome fun there! 😂 I love the idea of converting an old ride into a railway adventure vehicle. The abandoned rails across America are last unexplored off-road trails to be enjoyed, but with rail drivable vehicles. 👍
As you learned when you turned around your car, the spots you asked about were hand cart or rail car turn around. And a spot to get off the track when train was coming. Great video. Thanks
guys that was a video of academy award quality, thanks for the very unique ride along experience. This video reflects real quality content which is very rare these days. I like that your adventures and builds actually end up making some sense, they are not just throwing money at junk with an out come that is still junk, you guys are visionary, expending resources in a sensible way.
Well Merlin I've seen it all, you and Brad with a model T on this most wonderful railroad this was a fantastic video and I have to thank you for tacking us along for the ride in some of the most beautiful scenery and a historic railroad we have even heard about this side of the pond thank's again for a fantastic video Merlin & Brad.
Man! What an adventure! That was awesome! You can see why they called it "The Impossible Railroad." It goes all the way to San Diego through Mexico. Great video!
Great adventure for that era appropriate car. Not sure if anyone answered your questions, but the device filled with oil is a flange oiler that prevents rail wear on curvy railroad tracks. The wood ties in the center of the track and what looks like wood railroad track next to it is for speeders to be set out of the way of oncoming trains. Thanks for the ride guys!
To answer your question about the wooden platform between the rails at 21:55, that was a place for work crews to set their little track cars off to clear of the main line. The cars were light enough that 2 men could easily lift it, spin it 90 deg, set it back down on the platform and run it out on the wood rails till It was clear of the track. Super video!! Thanks!
That place u was asking about is where the cars full of rocks and dirt from the tunnels being built was dumped over the side of the mountain. Every where u look u see where brave hard working honest men worked and died. I've worked building tracks and last few years we worked we was undoing alot of old tracks. Now trucks do most of thè transportation of goods. But rail was King not that long ago. Love u're videos Merlin, I even like Brad some too.
If you find the balance point in the center of the model T you could place a jack in the center with a pin on top and weld a heavy washer to the balance point and with one person on each end swing it around in a few minutes with very little effort. I love watching rail riding videos. Great job.
WOW ! To have built something so epic, thru breathtaking beauty, & to still be there, slowly returning to nature... All a place we would never have seen, without y'all taking us along. There are no words to properly exclaim our profound thanx !
Kudos for restoring model-T, revival, rail trip, making video and sharing. a nice Speeder-Ford-T carrier Adaption from, ICE Speeder, Steam Speeder, Hand See-Saw Speeder, Mule Speeder, Ancient Roman Wagon oxen or horse powered, wagon-trains
Great video!! That was a wonderful and beautiful ride. Super neat to see the old track, bridges, tunnels and all the work those old timers did pretty much by hand. WOW!!! Thanks Merlin for taking us along!!!!
The ties between the rails with two additional ties perpendicular to the side; This is a motorcar set-off. Maintenance workers have to get out of the way for the trains. Each morning before the workers went out on the tracks, they got a “lineup”, or train schedule. Trains run on strict schedules….sometimes late, but never early. The workers would drive to the “set-off”, slide out two long lifting bars, pick up the back of the motorcar, and spin it 90 degrees on those ties between the rails. They could then push the motorcar out onto the ties that are perpendicular to the rails, park it, and wait for the train to go by. After train passes, the push the car back and put it on the rails. These were also used as turn arounds. Rather than backing the motorcar all the way back to the maintenance shop, they would use the set-off to turn the motorcar 180 degrees and drive back going forward.
Surly these 4 numptys should of gone back to a set off point and turned there. And taken all that weight out of the back to turn it. Or have a balanced pivot point to jack it up on then turn it anywhere !!!
Before accurate watch mechanisms were developed there was a very high fatality rate for these workers who did not get off the rails before the train came along and crushed them due to an error in synchronizing the workers watch with the train schedules. These tragedies were eliminated when watch accuracy improved.
The Tamper and Kershaw Ballast regulators have a center jack that would come down and you could spin the track machines 90 degrees to use a set-off, or 180 degrees if you wanted to maintain track going in the opposite direction. Fifty (50) years ago it was very easy to spin a machine around if needed, but it was not much fun building a set-off and leaving them there over night. We had pretty old ties and I always thought we would find one of the machines fallen off the set-off and into the ditch. I really don't miss working on the tracks. lol
@@brettbump9491 the issue with the tamper and ballast regulator was they were so long you had to have the switch ties on each side of the tracks in order to roll them off the tracks. What I feared the most was setting up the rails to load a tamper and regulator up onto a flat car. Lots of jacking and stacking to build the supported ramp on a siding. I never had to drive one up the ramp we made and I am not disappointed about that in any way.
Merlin - You Need a Rotator Mounted Under the Model T - That Lifts and Rotates - So You Can Turn Around - So Much Easier...Just a Thought...Stay Safe...Thanks For the History and Beautiful Views...Stay Strong...
Hey guys, put a bridge in the center of gravity on the Ford T chassis, and use a hydraulic jack, so it will be enough to raise the 4 wheels a little, and make them rotate on the central hydraulic pivot, to reverse the direction of travel . I congratulate you for this excellent video!!!! Greetings from Argentina !!!
The jumble of cross ties with the 2 long ties going away from the track were where the speeders were taken off the track to allow the trains to pass and for removal debris from other parts. You should have backed the model T to one of those, would have been much easier than what you went through. Great video as usual.
The oiler is called a flange greaser. It's used to help minimize the wear of the rail.
Usually placed just ahead of curves in the tracks where side load on the wheels will cause friction.
Type MBJ Meco rail - and - flange lubricator
Awesome really enjoyed it
Wear and friction reduction oiler for curves…
Yep it is a track oiler to cut down on friction on the curve. Still being used on some sections. Good call @pbaemedan
This track was originally built by John D. Spreckles. He was a sugar entrepreneur in San Diego, California, 1853 - 1926. The engineering people and many others said it could not be built, and it was nick- named , "The Impossible Railroad." Mainly because of the steep rough terrain going down into the desert of Imperial Valley. It was later named The San Diego-Arizona Eastern Railroad. There is a custom-built steam engine made for this railroad. It used vertical pistons for more power to get up the steep grades from the desert. I got a chance to see this steam locomotive many years ago when it was being stored and restored for the museum. They had it at NAS Miramar for some reason. My dad was in the Navy, and one of his comrades took us on a personal tour of it, and a couple of passenger cars were there. That wooden trestle is the world's biggest curved wooden trestle! To bring supplies into this area even with todays technologies would be amazing. They did this in 1920's. Solid rocks and deadly heat. The collapsed tunnels to the north of the trestle are the original train route until a major California earthquake happened around 1933. This prompted the construction of the wooden trestle. Mr. Spreckles had a mansion in Coronado, California there are many landmarks in San Diego County named after him. Organ pavilion and an amphitheater. I've been a San Diego County resident since 67 currently live near Campo, where the museum is located and very close to this trestle in the video. I actually live closer to the famous tunnel where the train goes into Tecare, Mexico, for a short distance and back into the United States.
What an amazing adventure that Merlin and Brad has taken us on with this video! Beautiful country and historic railroad tracks. Thanks for taking us along Merlin!
i definitely agree
Took the words right out of My mouth as What I was going to say.
World famous track & Goat Trail Tresses , thanks fellas 😎💥
Thank you for being the men to finally move that boulder. Well over due!!!
The ties in the middle of the tracks is for the hand carts to turn on. They are moved to the side on the wooden rails to allow trains to pass.
Sometimes there was a little shed to keep the carts in also from my understanding
Could be the best place to turn your model T around if you happened to find yourself on the tracks 😂
Also to clear track for the train
This is what my grandfather told me when he took me on his motorcar to see the last steam freight pass by.
Smaller motor cars can be picked up and moved off too.
That's the nicest rail cart so far. Much more stylish than a 4x8 hunk a ply, two lawn chairs and a Harbor Freight 4 stroke. Those larger wheels cut right through the shallow sand.
Sure was a blast hanging out with you guys on that adventure! Thanks for the good time!
Found this rail track by accident,was hiking here in the early 80,s..ran into the big steel gate and walked over the hill it block off,to get to the other side.amazed that it went on forever,so I just kept going,,something I'll never forget !
Nothing beats Sunday morning coffee and watching Merlin's antics.
The oil box is a flange oiler. It helped reduce drag of the wheel flanges on the curves. The timber strucures are speeder "set outs". Track crews had to stay out of the ways of trains. The speeders were light enough to pick up one end, rotate 90 degrees, and roll on the timbers at track side. Looks like fun.
Railway looks as if it has been maintained. Especially the bridges and tunnels.
From what I can find, the last train ran in 2013. It has been abandoned since. The dry climate preserves things but Mother Nature is catching up.
Was surprised the ‘speeders’ didn’t know about the motor car set-offs. Also surprised you didn’t back down to one to help you turn the “T Model” around. 😊
After turning the model T, I guess you can see what the wooden structures were for. Turning hand carts off the track.
Those weird 'metal looking' spikes were called 'silver dollars' back when I pounded them into Timbers while on the bridge gang in the '80s on Conrail.. they're actually very large screws , a foot long that rotate in as you hit it with a 10 lb Sledge... Pre drilled with a slightly smaller hole
For anyone curious the water tower was Dos Cabezas Station. Steve from sidetrack adventures did a video on the history of it about a month ago it was very interesting and cool to see it in Merlin’s video
Awesome adventure, thanks for taking us along...
very cool trip
You are right. It calls oil lubricator. It pushes the oil to lubricate outside wheels before heavy curve.
We still use it in Ukraine.
Sometime oil lubricators installed constantly on locomotives which work on mountains.
Also we use special locomotive which calls Lubricator. That locomotive runs before the train to lubricate the rails and make train ride more easily.
Sorry for my english)) I still learn it🙂
Thank you fir the video👍
Who needs a bucket when you can create your list as you go. ;O)-
amazing adventure that Merlin and Brad have taken us on. Beautiful country and historic railroad tracks. Thanks for taking us along Merlin!
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When I visited, over a weekend in the 70's, us Scouts discovered that 17 of the support foundations were washed out, and/ or the vertical timbers were just dangling in thin air.
We walked the catwalks, collected honey from a hive, played grabass.
Fun times😊
Thanks for sharing this! It's so amazing that you can still travel on old abandoned rail lines, since so many of them have been torn up.
Don't know if I've ever seen something as cool as this.
This is the coolest video I have seen in a long time. Thanks Merlin.
I have worked on the railways for many years as a Traincontrol officer. Steam, Diesel and Electric. The iron ore trains weighs up to 7500 tons in freight. Cheers Cape Town 🇿🇦🇺🇲
THAT was an awesome adventure!!! The scenery, unreal, those bridge structures, wow!
Love my Sunday mornings with MOSG. What an adventure in Merlins 1917 model T turned into a railcar. Another creation from Dr Frankenstein great history class in a history car. The best history class entertainment . Brad enjoyed the ride
Wow! You guys are literally living one of my dreams right now!😊 And since this is as close as I'll ever get. Thanks for taking us along 🇺🇲
Hey Merlin,
That was just too cool !
Once in a lifetime adventure.
Thanks for taking us along.
I’ve seen a lot of rail car builds on YT but this one is the best I’ve seen for far & it totally makes sense👌🏾
Its a shame that whole ride back was in the dark. Very cool trip. Thanks for doing it and takeing us along. I have never done anything as cool as that.
I luv it Mer..... grown men actin like children IS the object of the game..... carry on and god bless ❤️🇺🇸
One of your best videos! Thank you for sharing the past! How tough and fearless and ingenious our forefathers were… God Bless you guys.
Next upgrade could maybe be a 'cow catcher'/ debris blade on the front to deflect limbs, heaps of sand, you know, debris. It's a constant problem as these ARE abandoned tracks after all. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Love you guys.
You guys have built some crazy cool stuff but this one is definitely up there in the top ten that’s for sure!🍻
Exactly 💯
Top 3 .. I reckon for sure. What an adventure. Bushyboy Oz
Henry Ford is proud of you! You make this 1924 Model TT truck owner proud. Hopefully one of these days I can meet you. Excellent use of a Model T.
Thanks for taking us along, Merlin!
Exactly 💯
This was amazing! Thank you for sharing! That bridge is historic! Seeing that rock on the tracks made me think that a roadrunner and a Wiley Coyote were once in that very spot.
What a beautiful landscape and epic bucket
List trip. Thanks Merlin!
Next time, maybe put the boards under the model t longways with a bottle jack under the center of the T and spin it on the rails. ;)
That's the way we do it on the W.W.& F. Ry... Our model T rail car has a balance point. We have a board notched for the rails, (2', not 4' 8 1/2"), the jack goes in the middle, and the whole car comes up off the rails, and two people swing it around!
Really like the "Sepia Vision" shots...it add authentic realism to the adventure...Kudos.
I don't watch videos more than once but I will watch this again.
Don't want to spoil it for you but, it seems to always end up the same 🤔
weird huh 🤣
Lo acabo de ver por segunda vez y lo he disfrutado en grande !!!! Saludos desde Argentina !!!
Brad and Merlin's Excellent Adventure!
The bits that go off at a 90 Deg angle with wood in between the rails are to enable maintenance vehicles to put their turntable down, lift the vehicle up, spin it 90 degrees onto temporary rails and drive off out of the way for a train to pass. To save them having to go all the way back to a station/loop.
being from Ohio it was cool to see some of that track was made here. what a trip. thanks for taking us along.
So for your next adventire, you need a small H frame with a pivot in the center so you can jack the Model T up and spin it in place.
Great history! Beautiful trestle!
Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦
Thanks for a wonderful adventure!! I remember many years ago watching Huell Houser going all the way through all the tunnels to the trestle.
Brilliant video. 👍🏻🇬🇧”Speeders in payment for removing the rock we’re leaving the timbers”😂🤣👍🏻
Thanks, fellas, the biggest smiles for miles over here In the UK.. We don't have desserts here, so that's what made the video amazing to watch. thanks. Ian.
That was sooooo much fun! Thanks for taking us along. Epic journey
!
Merlin, I must thank you and Brad from the bottom of my heart. I've heard and read about this abandoned railroad and always wanted to figure out a way to go see it for myself. I'm 81 now and that will not happen. But, with your kindness and ingenuity, you have provided me a way to fulfill my dream. Thank you so much. If not for folks like you, the rest of us would never have the opportunity to see these fantastic views. Please, don't ever stop. P.S. How fortuitous is was for you two to run into 2 other adventurers. If not for them, you guys might STILL be out there.
Well I would have never experienced that trip without you Merlin. Felt like I was there with you guys with a windshield front row view. Loved this experience! Thank you for taking us along. ❤
What a fun adventure. Now to design a portable, quick to assemble turn table for the end of the run.
Man, that Model T handles like its on rail! Awesome adventure, thanks for taking us along!
I’ve watched a few videos on the ride to Goat Canyon. This has to be my favorite, love the Model T!
Have a Great Day
God Bless America 🇺🇸🙏🇺🇸
Hello my friends Merlin and Brad,heck of a spot to have some lunch.Yup beat the heat,looks like a hang out spot for the big hairy fella old squatch himself.
The track oilers were installed to reduce friction and wear on the rails. It was also used to reduce the effects of corrosion. Cool video, thanks for the upload.
Omg my wife Kathy and l loved it so much thanks so much.
My wife and I are the same time thought the fast forward parts would have been great in black & white
Awesome fun there! 😂
I love the idea of converting an old ride into a railway adventure vehicle. The abandoned rails across America are last unexplored off-road trails to be enjoyed, but with rail drivable vehicles. 👍
I believe there are a number of speeder clubs/ groups across the country that travel portions of railway with permission from owners
She needs an aarruuggaa horn!! Love it❤
Thank you. I grew up in an old coal town, lots of old tracks and tunnels in the hills. This reminds me of our adventures as kids.
As you learned when you turned around your car, the spots you asked about were hand cart or rail car turn around. And a spot to get off the track when train was coming. Great video. Thanks
An adventure we won't get anywhere else! Thank you!
Fun times on the old SD&AE. Thanks for taking us along. I remember when they had the steam trains there in the early 50s.
That bridge has been on my bucket list for a while. You just upped the ante, Merlin. ❤
My wife and I enjoy this adventure so much . She wants train wheels on my willeys jeep. Lol great fun beautiful country. Thank you and blessings
guys that was a video of academy award quality, thanks for the very unique ride along experience. This video reflects real quality content which is very rare these days. I like that your adventures and builds actually end up making some sense, they are not just throwing money at junk with an out come that is still junk, you guys are visionary, expending resources in a sensible way.
Well Merlin I've seen it all, you and Brad with a model T on this most wonderful railroad this was a fantastic video and I have to thank you for tacking us along for the ride in some of the most beautiful scenery and a historic railroad we have even heard about this side of the pond thank's again for a fantastic video Merlin & Brad.
Merlin, you make Sundays amazing.
Thank You for sharing your adventures with us.
This was a delightful adventure, full of great scenery and friendly banter. Thanks for sharing the journey and history.
Man! What an adventure! That was awesome!
You can see why they called it "The Impossible Railroad."
It goes all the way to San Diego through Mexico.
Great video!
Thanks for the awesome show, I can't believe you found a place in good enough shape for such a long beautiful day trip.
Hey guys thanks for a ride it's been fun have a good one
Very cool and smooth sounding bell. Love the ride, excellent views and teamwork to turn that rig around! Love hearing horn.
Everyone needs a Brad in their life. Smooth operation and steady as you go!
Great adventure for that era appropriate car. Not sure if anyone answered your questions, but the device filled with oil is a flange oiler that prevents rail wear on curvy railroad tracks. The wood ties in the center of the track and what looks like wood railroad track next to it is for speeders to be set out of the way of oncoming trains. Thanks for the ride guys!
To answer your question about the wooden platform between the rails at 21:55, that was a place for work crews to set their little track cars off to clear of the main line. The cars were light enough that 2 men could easily lift it, spin it 90 deg, set it back down on the platform and run it out on the wood rails till It was clear of the track. Super video!! Thanks!
Thank you for taking us along. Beautiful
A true testament, to what a versatile machine the t is, even 100yrs later. And not boiling either. Brilliant stuff😊
what a amazing adventure
what can i say more than u r a lucky guy, my man your trip is like heaven to me becuase of u.
thank u so much.
That place u was asking about is where the cars full of rocks and dirt from the tunnels being built was dumped over the side of the mountain. Every where u look u see where brave hard working honest men worked and died. I've worked building tracks and last few years we worked we was undoing alot of old tracks. Now trucks do most of thè transportation of goods. But rail was King not that long ago. Love u're videos Merlin, I even like Brad some too.
If you find the balance point in the center of the model T you could place a jack in the center with a pin on top and weld a heavy washer to the balance point and with one person on each end swing it around in a few minutes with very little effort. I love watching rail riding videos. Great job.
All I can say is WOW! What an adventure thank you for taking us along.
You guys produced some amazing video footage of that 100 year old railroad track and the landscape is unbelievably gorgeous. Nice one definitely
thats awesome you guy did this great video drove those tracks with my Dad in his old ww2 jeep we made about were you guys did thanks for the memories
WOW ! To have built something so epic, thru breathtaking beauty, & to still be there, slowly returning to nature... All a place we would never have seen, without y'all taking us along. There are no words to properly exclaim our profound thanx !
What a Fantastic trip.
Thanks for sharing such an amazing ride on the train tracks. The country you passed through was absolutely beautiful.
I could watch this all day!!!
I had a 1950 chevy that would drive right on the rails. Did a few times when in high school
Thanks Merlin for sharing this ride back into the past. That so many people would never have seen. 👍🇺🇸
Kudos for restoring model-T, revival, rail trip, making video and sharing.
a nice Speeder-Ford-T carrier
Adaption from,
ICE Speeder,
Steam Speeder,
Hand See-Saw Speeder,
Mule Speeder,
Ancient Roman Wagon oxen or horse powered, wagon-trains
That was Awesome and great Video your work on the railer
Is Outstanding and we appreciate your time
Thanx for sharing this Great 👍
Adventure
Great video!! That was a wonderful and beautiful ride. Super neat to see the old track, bridges, tunnels and all the work those old timers did pretty much by hand. WOW!!! Thanks Merlin for taking us along!!!!
The ties between the rails with two additional ties perpendicular to the side; This is a motorcar set-off. Maintenance workers have to get out of the way for the trains. Each morning before the workers went out on the tracks, they got a “lineup”, or train schedule. Trains run on strict schedules….sometimes late, but never early. The workers would drive to the “set-off”, slide out two long lifting bars, pick up the back of the motorcar, and spin it 90 degrees on those ties between the rails. They could then push the motorcar out onto the ties that are perpendicular to the rails, park it, and wait for the train to go by. After train passes, the push the car back and put it on the rails. These were also used as turn arounds. Rather than backing the motorcar all the way back to the maintenance shop, they would use the set-off to turn the motorcar 180 degrees and drive back going forward.
Surly these 4 numptys should of gone back to a set off point and turned there. And taken all that weight out of the back to turn it. Or have a balanced pivot point to jack it up on then turn it anywhere !!!
Before accurate watch mechanisms were developed there was a very high fatality rate for these workers who did not get off the rails before the train came along and crushed them due to an error in synchronizing the workers watch with the train schedules. These tragedies were eliminated when watch accuracy improved.
@@STRIKINGLIGHTING1 Yep, they should just gone back to the set off. What they did was especially the same method that the set off was designed for!😀
The Tamper and Kershaw Ballast regulators have a center jack that would come down and you could spin the track machines 90 degrees to use a set-off, or 180 degrees if you wanted to maintain track going in the opposite direction. Fifty (50) years ago it was very easy to spin a machine around if needed, but it was not much fun building a set-off and leaving them there over night. We had pretty old ties and I always thought we would find one of the machines fallen off the set-off and into the ditch. I really don't miss working on the tracks. lol
@@brettbump9491 the issue with the tamper and ballast regulator was they were so long you had to have the switch ties on each side of the tracks in order to roll them off the tracks. What I feared the most was setting up the rails to load a tamper and regulator up onto a flat car. Lots of jacking and stacking to build the supported ramp on a siding. I never had to drive one up the ramp we made and I am not disappointed about that in any way.
Great…just what I needed was another bucket list item … way to go!😂
Merlin - You Need a Rotator Mounted Under the Model T - That Lifts and Rotates - So You Can Turn Around - So Much Easier...Just a Thought...Stay Safe...Thanks For the History and Beautiful Views...Stay Strong...
Love That Horn...Thank You, Again...Stay Safe...
Those oak wedges I mentioned on earlier video and a 5’ needle bar would make turning the model T a lot easier
Hey guys, put a bridge in the center of gravity on the Ford T chassis, and use a hydraulic jack, so it will be enough to raise the 4 wheels a little, and make them rotate on the central hydraulic pivot, to reverse the direction of travel . I congratulate you for this excellent video!!!! Greetings from Argentina !!!
this is how the model T railcar at the Pleasant Point Railway Museum in NZ is turned around!
Thanks for the ride along Merlin and gang. It was very interesting. God Bless
This trip with the Model T on the railroad tracks was awesome! What a cool idea!!
The jumble of cross ties with the 2 long ties going away from the track were where the speeders were taken off the track to allow the trains to pass and for removal debris from other parts. You should have backed the model T to one of those, would have been much easier than what you went through. Great video as usual.
That was a lot of fun guy's thanks for bring us along. Very cool.
It's amazing how well preserved all that stuff is. Cool trip. I always wanted to do that with like a go cart.
Epic journey and a brave one also. You saw sights that very very few people have since that line got abandoned. Very good job Merlin!